What happened to St. Joseph Hospital’s first coronavirus case
(Photo courtesy Darrin Godin)
Darrin Godin, a previous St. Joseph employee, found himself fighting for his life against COVID-19 this past March. He can’t recall much about his stay but credits the care and comfort provided by his nurses to his ability to fight the virus. As “patient one” at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, the experience for his family and hospital workers were scary to say the least.
“When he got sick, Darrin scared everyone so much because he didn’t fit the profile. He wasn’t old. He hadn’t traveled recently. He didn’t have co-morbidity, another medical condition that would make him vulnerable. He was young and fit and seriously ill.” After a rollercoaster of a fight, Darrin was able to go home on April 1. Although he was in isolation, he says that he “always felt the presence of God” when the nurses were in his room and that he has “this overwhelming feeling of indebtedness” and that “it feels like there was an army of people fighting for [him].”